Heavyweight boxing & mixed martial arts ratings and commentary

January 2016

January 16, 2016

The Heavyweight boxing "title" double-header was of mixed results, as the first fight ended in a fluke and the 2nd ended in spectacular fashion. Deontay Wilder destroyed Artur Szpilka with a massive right hand in the 9th round after Vyachaslav Glazkov went down in the 3rd to Charles Martin due to a knee injury.

The Wilder fight was close through the 8th as Szpilka's movement caused Wilder problems. The WBC belt holder lived up to his name, swinging wildly early in the fight trying to land one big shot. For his part, Szpilka made Wilder look bad but didn't generate a lot of offense of his own. After flustering Wilder for 8 rounds he paid the price going after a left hook and ran right into Wilder's right, which spun Szpilka's neck around and his body followed to the canvas. He never got up and was carried off on a stretcher.

In the battle for the vacant IBF belt, Glazkov managed to leave on his own power after possibly tearing an ACL during the fight. The first two rounds were very preliminary as Glazkov tried to deal with Martin's size. After the referee warned the fighters about their feet—Martin is a 6'5" southpaw so his right foot and Glazkov's left were inches apart—Martin stepped on Glazkov's foot during an exchange and Glazkov appeared to twist his right knee and slipped to the ground. After that he seemed very tentative and during the next exchange—where Martin's punch didn't land—Glazkov crumbled to the ground and informed the referee he couldn't continue. It was a similar result to the Klitschko-Solis fight except Glazkov walked out of the ring.

What happens in our rankings? Here's a preview of next month's top ten:

-3Yr

-1Yr

-6mo

JanRank

FebRank

Fighter

Rating

Rated Record

January results

4

4

4

1

1

TYSON FURY

64.56

15-0-0

1

1

1

2

2

WLAD KLITSCHKO

57.16

42-4-0

3

3

3

3

3

ALEX POVETKIN

33.60

24-1-0

2

2

2

4

4

VITALI KLITSCHKO

30.99

27-2-0

last rated win -40 months.

20

6

6

6

5

DEONTAY WILDER

26.29

12-0-0

KO 9 #22 ARTUR SZPILKA

--

12

12

13

6

CHARLES MARTIN

24.83

5-0-0

TKO 3 #5 VYACH GLAZKOV

9

9

7

7

7

RUSLAN CHAGAEV

20.92

18-2-0

23

11

9

8

8

ANDY RUIZ JR

18.38

9-0-0

last rated win -13 months.

67

16

10

10

9

ERKAN TEPER

18.33

7-0-0

25

31

37

11

10

LUIS ORTIZ

18.18

9-0-0

A win is a win, and Charles Martin takes advantage of that fact to fly up to #6 as Glazkov falls from #5 to #12. Wilder moves up a notch to #5, his highest ranking ever on our Top 100. He's still below the retired Vitali Klitschko (inactive over 3 years) due to a generally weak schedule despite a 36-0 record. He also rates below mandatory challenger Alexander Povetkin (#3), as well as of course Tyson Fury and Wladimir Klitschko.

Though most fans would like to see Wilder face one of those above him, we have a feeling that Martin will be his next opponent. Martin didn't look bad in the first few rounds but his win was a fluke and he would be a much less daunting challenge than Povetkin.